Employees for Mansfield's Energy Technologies put together wiring assemblies in 2010. The company has taken advantage of the Third Frontier program.

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Eleven years ago, then-Gov. Bob Taft rolled out his Third Frontier Commission to bring high-tech companies to locations across the state, but grants rarely go to businesses outside of Ohio's largest cities.

Taft pitched his program in the 2002 State of the State like this: "From Ashtabula to Zanesville, from the rolling hills of Appalachia to the bustling corridors of our great cities, the spirit of the early pioneers breathes within us. We stand on the doorstep of Ohio's third frontier. The great challenge of our time is to summon the courage and ingenuity of those who have come before us, to ...